A left-wing pundit exhorts left-wingers to go to the polls on Sunday, even if the odds are bad, and then start rebuilding the Left from scratch the day after, lest it disappear altogether.

In a desperate Népszava editorial, Péter Németh calls left-wing Hungarians to cast their votes during the municipal elections on Sunday, “no matter how pitiful the team representing us looks”. He would be happy to see the Left at least score better than four years ago when it suffered crushing defeats in cities and villages throughout Hungary, but fears that even such a limited success would be used to gloss over the profound incompetence that has resulted in its repeated fiascos. It has become increasingly divided and its leaders have been busy defeating each other rather than PM Orbán. It is futile, he continues, to castigate “the Orbán-regime with its anti-democratic attitudes”, for it simply got more votes than the opposition. Németh even says “there was no reason to vote for this Left,” as it has been unable to show anything positive about itself. After what he calls “a mournful year” for the Left, left-wing citizens should “impose a change” starting from Monday. For unless it proves able to change strategies and start rebuilding itself, the Left will “inevitably drift on towards destruction”.